Arson suspected as more cars burn in Hollywood

Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters assist a man out of his apartment along with a cage of birds as multiple cars burn in a carport in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles on Saturday, Dec. 31. For the third night in a row, a rash of arson fires has sent firefighters scrambling to extinguish car fires in various neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Most of the fires on this night occurred in the San Fernando Valley.

AP reports:

Officials announced at least $35,000 in rewards for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible.

All of Friday's fires were in a 2-square mile area and most were in densely populated residential neighborhoods where residents would likely be asleep.

A Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter is shown at a fire in West Hollywood, Calif., on Friday Dec.30.. An arsonist torched car after car early Friday, sending firefighters scrambling to put out more than a dozen blazes in Hollywood and neighboring West Hollywood. The fires started shortly after midnight and occurred over a four-hour span before dawn.

A string of fires in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles were deliberately set, leaving police baffled and firefighters fearful for the safety of residents and their own. NBc's George Lewis reports.